Tampa Bay Water is evaluating three routes for a new drinking water pipeline to supply Hillsborough County. Residents can provide input on the three routes under consideration by taking a short survey. The survey will remain open from June 14 through July 8. Para información en español llame al (813) 929-4570.
Hillsborough County residents can participate in a telephone town hall meeting on July 12 to hear about the pipeline project and Tampa Bay Water's Long-term Master Water Plan projects. Please click below to sign up.
You may follow along with tonight’s telephone town hall presentation by downloading the following slide deck.
Southern Hillsborough County is experiencing unprecedented population growth that is driving the demand for additional drinking water. By 2045, the number of homes in the Boyette area is expected to grow by one-third, the number in Wimauma is expected to more than double, and the number in the Balm area is expected to nearly triple. To meet the long-term needs of this area, Tampa Bay Water is building the South Hillsborough Pipeline.
The new South Hillsborough Pipeline will be up to 72 inches in diameter and carry up to an additional 65 million gallons per day (mgd) of water to Hillsborough County’s southern service area when complete in 2028. The pipeline will start at the Tampa Bay Regional Surface Water Treatment Plant in Brandon, connect to Hillsborough County’s Lithia Water Treatment Plant and end at the County’s new connection point at Balm Riverview and Balm roads. The pipeline provides redundancy between the Tampa Bay Regional Surface Water Treatment Plant in Brandon and Hillsborough County’s Lithia Water Treatment Plant.
Tampa Bay Water’s engineering consultants analyzed a total of 10 routes (five northern segments and five southern segments), which resulted in a shortlist of three top-ranked consolidated routes. The routes were evaluated against 11 selection criteria, which included non-cost factors such as public inconvenience, safety, environmental impacts and permitting, as well as project cost.
In the next project phase, Tampa Bay Water’s consulting engineers will complete the detailed design for the pipeline.
Route approved 01/23/2023
Note: Tampa Bay Water has not yet determined the exact location within the approved route of the South Hillsborough Pipeline. We will know the conceptual location later in fall 2023, once the Basis of Design Report is completed and exact locations in Summer 2025 when final design is completed. If during final design our engineers determine that easements are required, Tampa Bay Water or its land agents will reach out to individual property owners by letter to determine interest in voluntary sale of easement rights.
Segment A exits the Tampa Bay Water’s Regional Facilities Site, crosses Falkenburg Road at Woodberry Road and heads east past Providence Road to Limona Road, where it heads south. At Victoria Street, the route turns east, then turns south at North Moon Avenue. The route then turns east at Robertson Street West and continues south on Parsons Avenue, past Lumsden Road, and continues south on John Moore Road turning west on Ronele Drive and then south at South Kings Avenue. The route turns west onto Alafia Boulevard and crosses the Alafia River at 4142 Alafia Boulevard. After going under the river, the route continues south along 7202 Alafia Ridge Road and then on Alafia Ridge Loop to south on McMullen Road. At Boyette Road, the route goes east, continuing to Fishhawk Boulevard to the Lithia Water Treatment Plant.
Segment B connects to Segment A near Fish Hawk Boulevard, just west of Fish Hawk Creek. It heads south to Boyette Road, then intersects Balm Boyette Road and continues south to Hillsborough County’s new connection point at the intersection of Balm and Balm Riverview roads. Segment B will be funded by Hillsborough County but will be owned and operated by Tampa Bay Water.
There are portions of this route where trenchless construction techniques (such as microtunneling) are intended to be used to reduce or avoid impacts to environmentally sensitive areas. Final design will include an in-depth evaluation of protected species (flora and fauna) to determine if these are located within the proposed construction limits and if necessary, how to mitigate impacts.
Tampa Bay Water is seeking a Construction Manager At-Risk (CMAR) to provide preconstruction services and manage construction of the pipeline. The CMAR delivery method was selected for this project to help reduce the risk for project schedule delays for this critical infrastructure. This is possible due to having the flexibility to initiate early procurement of materials, which is a significant benefit based on the current supply chain issues. Additionally, the CMAR would have the ability to move forward with some key early construction packages as appropriate.
The combined blue route, Segment A and B, represents the lowest cost consolidated route at $417 million. Estimated costs will be updated when Tampa Bay Water’s consulting engineers complete the detailed design for the pipeline. Tampa Bay Water has received $4.5 million in co-funding from the Southwest Florida Water Management District for preliminary design and will apply for additional funds, up to $145 million in District co-funding for design and construction, in fiscal year 2024 and beyond.
Tampa Bay Water began public engagement for the South Hillsborough Pipeline in 2019 when the utility began studying possible corridors for the new large-diameter transmission main. Initial public input was collected on evaluation criteria used to rank potential routes.
Survey respondents’ most important evaluation criteria were:
Routes were presented to the community in summer 2022 and additional feedback was collected prior to finalizing a route ranking.
From June 14, 2022, through July 8, 2022, Tampa Bay Water conducted an online survey to ask residents about the top three potential pipeline routes.
The project team also held several community meetings with homeowners associations and a live Telephone Town Hall with Hillsborough County residents on July 12, 2022.
South Hillsborough Pipeline Route Study Report Executive Summary
South Hillsborough Pipeline Route Study Report (Segment A)
South Hillsborough Pipeline Route Study Report (Segment B)
Tampa Bay Water provides wholesale water to the public utility systems of Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties, as well as the cities of New Port Richey, St. Petersburg and Tampa. You may opt in to receive notices by sending an email to projectinfo@tampabaywater.org or by calling (813) 486-0361.
